Lemon, "Meadowlark" (Meadow G. III)
Basketball
b. April 25, 1933, Lexington, SC
Nicknamed the "Clown Prince of Basketball," Lemon was a fine basketball and football player in high school, but his goal was to play for the Harlem Globetrotters and he spent extra hours working on ball handling and tricky maneuvers to reach that goal.
Lemon entered Florida A & M University after graduating from high school in 1952. His college career was cut short by two years in the Army. He was stationed in Germany while the Globetrotters were playing there and he got an audition with the team.
After his discharge in 1954, he joined the Globetrotters and quickly became one of their most popular players with his skilled antics. At a time when the best black player were being admitted into the NBA rather than forced into playing for barnstorming teams, Lemon may well have been the salvation of the Globetrotters, since playing for them was his only ambition.